Shigasato Itoi
About Shigesato Itoi (糸井 重里 Itoi Shigesato, born November 10, 1948) is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of his website “Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun” (‘Almost Daily Itoi News'). He is best known outside Japan for his work on Nintendo's Mother series of games, as well as his self-titled bass fishing video game. Personal Life Itoi was born on November 10, 1948 and raised in Maebashi, Gunma. He was a heavy smoker until he quit in 2002. Itoi has been married to actress Kanako Higuchi since 1993. Work Writing During the 1980s Itoi established the profession of writing copy for advertisements among the general public in Japan. Later Itoi branched into writing essays, lyrics, and into designing video games. He is best known in the US for Nintendo's MOTHER 2, released in 1994 in Japan and in 1995 in North America (as EarthBound). In 1997, Itoi began using the Internet and bought his first Macintosh. In 1998 he started the website “Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun” (“Almost Daily Itoi News”), which is the center of his activity today. Under the theme of “creating good mood”, the website has been updated every day for the past 15 years,3 with Itoi’s essays on lifestyle, interviews and articles, and merchandise sales. He talks about his dog, Bouillon, and his interviews with artists, craftsmen, businessmen, etc., which tend to center on philosophical issues. Itoi has co-written several books modeled on these interviews, in which he has a series of long conversations with, for example, an expert on neurology (Kaiba "The Hippocampus"), about how to live as a human being in the world. His latest book, Atama no naka ni aru kouen ("A park in your mind"), is the fourth anthology issue of writings collected from the 'Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun'. "Hobo Nichi" (as it is called) provides its articles for free without any advertisement on the website. Merchandising of original lifestyle goods and publishing are the main business. The Hobonichi Day Planner, selling 342,000 units, is Japan’s best-seller in the category. Other products include T-shirts, towels, “haramaki” (belly warmers), calendars, and pottery. Itoi co-authored a collection of short stories titled Yume de aimashou ("Let's meet in a dream") with writer Haruki Murakami. Video Games Shigesato Itoi was the lead designer for all three titles in the Mother series.Itoi claims that the final battle of EarthBound was inspired from his accidental childhood viewing of the Shintoho film titled The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty. Specifically, the scene that inspired the battle was a scene that he believed depicted a woman being raped near a river, although the scene in question depicts a murder rather than a rape. Itoi has repeatedly explained that he would not be involved in a fourth title of the series. Film He has voiced Satsuki's father, Tatsuo Kusakabe, in the Japanese version of the 1988 Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro. He has been a judge on several episodes of the Japanese television shows Iron Chef and Hey! Spring of Trivia. Itoi made his acting debut in 2010, when he played the role of a professor in the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. Other Shigesato Itoi worked with Nintendo to design video game-themed haramaki. Itoi launched a photo creation tool called "Dokonoko", which is designed specifically to be used with pets. It has been described as an "Instagram for pets". Gameography In Drew's Videos Drew has let's played EarthBound (in 2016), noting it as being his favorite game of all time. In Spring 2016, Drew started but didn't finish a let's play of Mother 3. This let's play would be restarted in late-July 2018. In the Drew vs the World episode "LUIGI ACTUALLY DIES", Drew talks about his love for the series and how he wishes for it to get more attention in the West by Nintendo. Drew has said Duster from Mother 3 is his favorite character. In the mentioned Drew vs the World episode, Drew state "the only thing loved less than by Nintendo than Waluigi, is the Mother series." Itoi is mentioned in several episodes of his 2018 Mother 3 let's play.